This week’s movie reviews: Hollywood and Indy

Read the best of NEW Movie Reviews:

Film Review: FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

The book contains the history of Magizoology and describes 85 magical species found around the world. To get into the spirit of Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts (not shown in the film), provides the Foreword and explains the purpose of the special edition of this book (the Comic Relief charity). At the end, he tells the reader, “…The amusing creatures described hereafter are fictional and cannot hurt you.” He repeats the Hogwarts motto: “Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus”, Latin for “Never tickle a sleeping dragon”.

Film Review: QUAND ON A 17 ANS (BEING 17) (France 2016) ****

Directed by Téchiné with a script he wrote in collaboration with Céline Sciamma, the film follows the romantic and sexual awakening of two seventeen year old boys as their initial animosity, expressed in violence, morphs into love. For the not-so French literate, Being 17 borrows its title from the second half-line of the first verse of Roman, (1870) by Arthur Rimbaud: On n’est pas sérieux quand on a dix-sept ans.

Film Review: AN EYE FOR AN EYE (Documentary)

Israeli filmmaker Ilan Ziv’s (SIX DAYS IN JUNE) documentary tells the story of death row inmate Mark Stroman and the friendship he forges with one of his surviving victims Rais Bhuiyan, who set about to save Stroman from death row as part of his Muslim faith beliefs.

Film Review: NOCTURNAL ANIMALS. Starring: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal

The protagonist of the piece is a successful Los Angeles arts gallery owner and designer by the name of Susan (Amy Adams). Susan often has sleepless nights and could thus be classified as a nocturnal animal. Her ex-husband Tony (Jake Gyllenhaal) has recently completed a book titled NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, about three redneck thugs who prey on a family after carjacking them. Tony sends Susan a copy of his manuscript to read as a privileged reader.

Movie Review: TENGU: BIRDMAN OF THE MOUNTAINS (2016)

Tengu: Birdman of the Mountains,  is a film that will delight you with its symbology, its imagery and it’s excellent fight sequences, but it goes far beyond that. This film represents of genre-hybrid that should be welcomed into cinema with open arms. It is highly commendable thing to be able to successfully blend genres together, and this film is able to do that. With effortless ease a viewer can watch this film and find something in it to enjoy even if they are not conventionally a viewer of action.

Movie Review: THE TRAP (2016)

Subtle and steamy, with mounting tension in every scene, The Trap is a suspense film, turned mystery film, turned action film. Cleverly designed with red-herrings and hidden details, there must be a special nod of appreciation to the film’s editor.

Movie Review: MOTEL MOTEL (2016)

This film makes nods to several well established cult classics, such as Pulp Fiction to name one of many. The unreliable narrator, the highly subjective non-lateral plot and the avant-garde supernatural air, make the film a cultural cinematic work of art. Think Wes Anderson, if Wes Anderson was dark and perturbed and less whimsical.